昨夜寒蛩不住鸣。/ 惊回千里梦，
Language: Chinese (中文)
昨夜寒蛩不住鸣。
惊回千里梦，
已三更。
起来独自绕阶行。
人悄悄，
帘外月胧明。
白首为功名。
旧山松竹老，
阻归程。
欲将心事付瑶琴。
知音少，
弦断有谁听？
About the headline (FAQ)
Tune: 小重山
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Shun Yan) , "Manifold Little Hills", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Shun Yan
This text was added to the website: 2023-02-13
Line count: 12
Word count: 12
Manifold Little Hills
Language: English after the Chinese (中文)
Last night the fall crickets wailed all the way.
Awakened from my dreams thousands of miles away,
It was midnight already.
I rose and strolled in the yard alone;
It was all silent,
Through shades the moon dimmed hazily;
My hair turns grey for the glorious day.
Together grows old the bamboos and pines in my homeland,
Thwarting my way back.
I would confide my heart through my lute,
But connoisseurs are few on tune.
Who would be listening,
Even if I play till a broken string?
Notes provided by Shun Yan:
Title: "Manifold Little Hills": Cí (pronounced [tsʰǐ]; Chinese: 詞) is a type of lyric poetry in the tradition of Classical Chinese poetry that also draws upon folk traditions. The rhythmic and tonal pattern of the cí are based upon certain, definitive musical song tunes (cípái), and in many cases the name of the musical tune is given in the title of a cí piece, in a form such as "after the tune of Manifold Little Hills. " The underlying songs are generally lost or uncertain.
Author: Yue Fei (1103–1142) was a Chinese military general who lived during the Southern Song dynasty and considered a national hero of China, known for leading Southern Song forces in the wars in the 12th century between Southern Song and the Jurchen-ruled Jin dynasty in northern China. Because of his warlike stance, he was put to death by the Southern Song government in 1142 under a concocted charge, after a negotiated peace was achieved with the Jurchens. Widely seen as a patriot and national folk hero in China, since his death Yue Fei has evolved into a paragon of loyalty in Chinese culture.
Stanza 1, line 2 : Dreams back from thousand miles away, refer to the dream of fighting for the nation in the war field thousand miles away in the north land.
Stanza 2, line 1 : The "glorious day" referred to the glory that the general fought a long campaign against the invading Jurchen in an effort to retake northern China.
Stanza 2, line 4: The classical Chinese lute, also known as guqin, a plucked seven-string musical instrument. It has traditionally been favored by scholars and literati as an instrument of great subtlety and refinement.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from Chinese (中文) to English copyright © 2023 by Shun Yan, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:
- a text in Chinese (中文) by Yue Fei (1103 - 1142), "小重山·昨夜寒蛩不住鸣"
This text was added to the website: 2023-02-13
Line count: 13
Word count: 87
